Takeaways from Sundance

From a Mongolian eagle huntress to a family tragedy in small-town America and a surreal comedy starring "Harry Potter" hero Daniel Radcliffe, here are five takeaways from the Sundance Film Festival, which runs through January 31:

'Manchester by the Sea'

With the festival midway through, this much-anticipated drama appears to be one of the breakout movies at Sundance and is already creating an Oscars buzz for 2017.
Directed by Kenneth Lonergan, the film tells the story of a janitor, played by Casey Affleck, who moves back to a small town in Massachusetts to care for his nephew after a family tragedy. Amazon picked up the rights to the film at the weekend for $10 million, in a further indication of the role streaming services are increasingly playing in the movie industry.

'Tickled'

You're a reporter in New Zealand with a flair for offbeat stories and you come across a mysterious tickling competition in Los Angeles that piques your interest. That's the premise of a funny and unsettling documentary -- "Tickled" -- by David Farrier and Dylan Reeve that has sparked talk at Sundance.

"The biggest challenge we had was that we were making a film about people who didn't want a film made about them," Reeve said.

'Swiss Army Man'

Much is being said at Sundance about Radcliffe's flatulent corpse in "Swiss Army Man," which was much anticipated but was met with a steady stream of walkouts at the sold-out premiere.
Radcliffe -- the boy wizard in the "Harry Potter" films -- plays a corpse that is befriended by a loner (Paul Dano) stranded on an island.

Writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert describe the movie as a "fart drama."

'The Eagle Huntress'

Star sightings are not rare at Sundance but seeing a 13-year-old eagle huntress from Mongolia in traditional garb strolling down the street is definitely unusual.

The young girl, Aisholpan, is the subject of a documentary -- "The Eagle Huntress" -- that is premiering in the Sundance Kids section, and she has traveled to the festival, along with some eagles, for the event.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" star Daisy Ridley signed on as executive producer for director Otto Bell's documentary.

"The minute I saw it I knew I wanted to be part of it," Ridley said on Instagram.

'Weiner'

Anthony Weiner, the US congressman forced to resign over a sexting scandal in 2011, is once again grabbing headlines, this time over a documentary at Sundance that chronicles his failed political comeback in 2013, when he ran for mayor of New York.

Co-directed by former Weiner chief of staff Josh Kriegman with Elyse Steinberg, "Weiner" provides an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the man and his wife, Huma Abedin, a close aide to Hillary Clinton, as his mayoral campaign comes crashing down over another explicit sexting scandal.

In one dramatic scene, he dashes through the back of a McDonald's to avoid coming face-to-face with a woman with whom he had exchanged inappropriate messages and who was nicknamed "Pineapple" by his staff.
Source :AFP